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LIB RARY O F CONGR ESS. 






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♦UNITEl) STATES OF AMEIUCA,^ 



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POEMS. 






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WILLIAM JAMES MoCLURE. 




4 



NEW YORK: 
P. O'SHEA, PUBLISHER, 2 7 BARCLAY STREET. 



1869. 



^%^^^ 

^a^ 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 186P. 

By WILLIAM JAMES McCLUUE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for llie 

Southern District of New York. 



ALVORD, PKINTEIt. 






§tAxt^ttA 

TO THE 

POETIC G-ENIXJS 

OF 

AMERICA. 



PREFACE, 



With these Poems as my credentials, 1 knock at the 
garden-gate of Poesy. Content to enter the dales, but 
aspiring to the liills of Soxg, I pray ye, tuneful Sisters, 
favor my lyre, and let me in ! 

From the Literary World I ask a just and candid 
criticism ; and if there be found aught in this volume 
elevating to the mind, or touching to the heart of 
Humanity, I shall not regret the labor of its production. 

To the friends who have encouraged and assisted me 
in my authorship I tender undying thanks. 

Regardful of approval, and respecting censure, when 
proceeding from competent judgment, I present my 
first book to the public. 

W. J. McO. 
New York, February 1, 1R69. 



OOITTENTS 



FAOE 

ZiLLORA, A Tale, in Three Cantos 9 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

L 

The Hudson River 52 

Moonlight on the Hudson 57 

Native Hills 59 

The Woodland Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 

Buds and Blossoms . . . . . . 63 

A Waif 66 

Summer , . . . 67 

Violets and Pansies 69 

Morning-Glories "^l 

Song OF the Mowers ' 73 

Autumn '^^ 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

October . . "77 

The Fall of the Leaves . . . . 79 

Winter's Victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 



II. 

Sweet is the Song 83 

Beauty . . . . 84 

Friendship . . . . . . 85 

Meeting and Parting 86 

La Sexorita . , . . , . 89 

On the Lake 91 

Affection for Nature . . . . . . . . . . 93 

A Sketch . . . , . . . . 94 

The Pure and the Lovely 95 

My Beautiful Angel 9*7 

Mary 99 

ni. 

War 100 

Battle of Lookout Mountain .. 102 

Glimpses 106 

To the Angel, Peace 109 

Exultation Ill 

Counsel . . 113 

Praise 115 

The Shamrock and Laurel 116 



CONTENTS. VII 

I'AGK 

The Rights of Man 118 

Thomas Francis Meagher . . . . . . . . . , 120 

The ^[emort of the Brave ., .. .. .. .. 122 



lY. 

Nature and Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 

Society's Sea 128 

A Vision 131 

To Tragedy 133 

The Outcast's Grave 134 

Wealth no Merit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 

Changes 138 

Morality 140 

Remember Dk Mil .. .. .. .. .. .. 141 

Lines to a B;;ilhant Star .. .. ,. .. .. 143 

An Impression 144 

Stanzas 146 

The New Year 147 

Ambition 148 



Z I L L O R A 

A TALE. 



CANTO FIRST. 

Bright Muse, of upward wing ! 

Wilt thou light me to sing 

Of mystic spirit-realms — 

Where cypresses and elms 

Have not a germ, nor tears 

The boon of lovely eyes ? — 

Or of the hopes and fears. 

The laughter and the sighs 

Of human hearts ? — Speak, and advise ! 

And thus the Muse : O sing 

Of Love's sweet wakening ; 

Its growth and riper hours. 

When o'er its life come showers, 

To chasten and refresh 

The rankness of its bloom ! 

'Twill ne'er decay, as flesh 

Within the clod-claspt tomb — 

A child of Heaven, 'twill Pleaven resume. 



10 /JLLORA. 

Earth, fondled by the Sea, 

Avowed its grief and glee. 

In sj^rightly tones and deep — 

As though the genii 'd keep 

Their moanings heard, 'midst strains 

Of fairy mirth and smiles — 

Vibrating to the plains, 

The crags and dim defiles, 

That form and guard the Grecian isles. 

Greece of Old ! Poesy's 
Sublimest galleries 
Are rich with scenes of thine ; 
For thou'rt the poet's shrine : 
The spirit of Homer's 
Thought pervades thy valleys, 
Heights, and waters ; roamers — 
Like he who, charmed, dallies — 
On thee gaze rapt, and as rallies 

Mem'ry her noiseless train. 

The bosom flames, the brain 

Lightens, the soul acquires 

Song from a thousand lyres ! — 

How kingly was thy Past, 

Classic land : thy Present — 

How into thralldom cast. 

Grand and finely pleasant, 

Slave thou art 'twixt Cross and Crescent. 



ZILLORA. ] 1 

Survive methinks in thee 

The heart-throbs of the Free ! 

Thy regeneration — 

Oh, that it were but won ! 

Behold heroic Crete — 

Her war-flag streams tlie sky,^ 

Her valor spurns defeat : 

Oh, may the rude Turk fly 

Her coasts, or thereon vanquished die ! 

The sun's last beam with red 

Tinged the summer-clouds, wed 

To grandeur-gifted days ; 

And, as anon its blaze 

Sank less lurid beneath 

Mediterranean's wave, 

There floated on the breath 

Of zej^hyrs sounds that brave 

Men wish to hear, and monarch s crave. 

In the dreamy twilight, 
Rock-browed stood heig^ht on hei<?ht, 
Hollowed by dizz'ning chasms, 
In which the thund'rous spasms 
Of cataracts were heard — 
Terrific and unsipt ; 
And "Good-night" — kindly word — 
By civil voices lipt. 
Heralded repose, slumber-dipt. 



1 2 ZTTXORA. 

Awful Spirit of Kight ! 

Thy lone and solemn flight 

Enforces deepest thought, 

And meditation fraught 

With fantasies and dreams. 

Thy wings the land and wave 

O'erspread, concealing beams — 

Save when, through Heaven's concave, 

The moon and stars thy shadows brave. 

The poet cons his verse. 

The worldling counts his purse ; 

The lover wildly vows. 

His mistress to espouse ; 

The outcast by-lanes roves, 

The debauchee insane 

Through Pleasure's orgies moves — 

A demon in his brain — 

While thou, O Night, o'er earth remain. 

To children's eyelids comes 

Soft sleep, pervading homes 

Of Poverty and Wealth. 

Lovingly and by stealth, 

Each mother kisses each 

Young flower, then wooes repose ; 

Ere which her prayers beseech 

God's sunshine on her rose. 

Whose bud new-opes, unAvise of snows ! 



ZTLLORA. 13 

Dimly and moonlight-kissed, 
Kiiins loomed — power-dismissed, 
Yet haughty still — their crests 
Stubborn to Time's unrests ; 
For o'er them javelins glowed, 
And helmets proud, in days 
When mailed warriors strode 
The halls — high, curving ways — 
And women's eyes lent laughing rays. 

Oh, splendors that the mind 
And hand of man designed. 
And palpably upreared ! — 
Why are ye so endeared, 
E'en in your sad decay ? 
True monuments ! ye stand 
Weird warners by the way ; 
And dignify the land 
With recollections, martial, bland. 

Huge on a cliff appeared 

A castle, old and seared. 

Whose battlements all bore 

The signature of war. 

That reddened simpler ages ; 

And standing 'bove the sea, 

Calmly brooked its rages — 

As views Humanity 

A fierce beast caged, though littered free ! 



14 ZILLOKA. 

Lights flashed fro in porticoes: 

Again, again arose 

Glad music's tone ; anon 

'Twould cease, as though 'twere gone, 

Then sound again, and charm. 

There merry-moving feet 

Tript blithe, and arm pressed arm 

Of dear companion sweet — 

Consorting loves and friendships meet. 

Mirth came in gracious glees 
From broad-arched entrances ; 
For Pleasure, high-enthroned. 
Made Grief's A^oice undertoned ; 
And firmamental gems — 
That deck th' ethereal round. 
And kindle theorems 
In human minds profound — 
Sparkled o'er horizontal bound. 

One year a bride that day — 

That eve 'twere right to say — 

Zillora welcome gave 

To hearts from o'er the wave ; 

Yet w^ished that silence filled, 

Instead of revelry. 

Her dome of w^arlike build — 

Where ancient devilry 

Recorded was as chivalry ! 



ZTLLORA. 1 5 



Courtiers, fostering style, 
And lady-peers, the while 
Entered the castle-hall : 
Its ev'ry arch and wall, 
And columned gallery, 
Festooned with artist-taste : 
Honoring socially 
Zillora's wifehood chaste — 
Vivanco's station, legend-traced. 

It was a festive eve, 
And Beauty chose to Aveave 
With Joy concurrent charms. 
All thoughtless of alarms, 
The gay assemblage danced 
The corridors along — 
Sculptured and mirror-tranced. 
Not sinless was the throng. 
For gilding oft conceals a wrong. 

Zillora pensively 
Reclined 'midst tapestry. 
A looker-on, she was 
A shrinker from applause 
And gayety — to thought 
Disposed — most nobly fair ; 
Clothed in fine fabrics, wrought 
Where to the cloudless air 
Melts incense, worship to declare 



] 6 > ZTLLORA. 

There glistened o'er her brow, 
And on her breast below, 
Jewels from India's mines — 
Brighter than brightest wines. 
Or sunlit waterfalls, 
Emitting crystal sprays ! — 
Befitting Fashion's halls, 
Where envious beauties gaze. 
And long for follies till they craze ! 

Her robes of showy worth 

Accorded with the mirth 

Of all her laughing guests, 

Not with her heart's behests ; 

For 'twas on such an eve. 

But not from such a scene, 

Young Love lured her to leave 

Her cottage, tricked in green. 

Round which she roved, a crownless queen. 

As thus Zillora mused. 

Her tresses dark refused 

Art-pinioning, and lay 

In Nature's untaught way 

Upon her neck, and down 

Unto her bodice rolled, 

In waves of glossy brown ; 

Unheeding frill and fold 

Of her attire, inweaved with gold. 



ZILLORA. 17 

Vivanco hovered near, 
His healthful visage clear 
Turned from the guests away. 
Ere long a sudden ray 
Vivacious 'thwart his face 
Would gleam; and while its glare 
His spirit held, the place, 
And those assembled there, 
Of joy partook a double share. 

He loved his beauteous wife : 
Zillora's gentle life 
Was dearer to his soul 
Than richest earth-control. 
And he had wide domains 
Of meadow-land and shore — 
Compounded were his gains — 
Trim ships him treasure bote — 
He was an island governor. 

Light-tonnaged trading-Heets 
Were his resource ; their feats 
The Levant knew ; the Nile 
They entered oft, and while 
This merchant-grandee slept. 
His cargoes from their decks 
In lieu of coin were swept. 
What marvel, then, that wrecks 
Vivanco's dreams should often vex. 



18 ZILLORA. 

His was a tropic blood, 

And flushed his veins for good — 

As rivulets the land 

Traverse, and bloom expaud ; 

For withering evil, 

Wlien fell revenge impelled 

Diversion to the devil — 

Like stormy waves, unheld 

By human art, by Nature quelled. 

But to the theme. — The dance 

Survived, and Music's lance, 

Rapture-tipt, pierced each heart, 

Striking the kindliest part, 

Chasing the heaviness 

That often drags lives down 

To brooding and distress — 

The product of a frown, 

Or consciousness of friendships flown. 

Stilled at last was the beat 

Of instruments and feet : 

The sea's incessant call 

Told not of festival ; 

Yet its waves from the stars 

Obtained a brilliancy, 

Till their crests seemed like cars 

That in fairy-land be — 

Silverly-adorned, vapory. 



19 



The turret-headed towers, 
Buttressed to stony powers, 
Were spectral in the gleam 
Of the moon's modest beam : 
That wandered with the light 
Of festive lamps and brief, 
Far, far into the night — ■ 
As roams a kingly chief 
With one wlio holds a lesser fief! 

Excitement waned, grew cohl; 

Some rested, others strolled. 

And fanned their throbbing brows : 

Belike betrothment vows 

Were given, and promise 

Of a future meeting : 

Surely there shone a bliss 

In each eye competing — 

Seen through glances, love-entreating. 

Voice-vivified, arose 

Zillora's song ; as flows 

A spring-brook down a dell, 

In murm'rous music, fell 

Its cadences purely : 

Through the hushed castle chimed — 

Not sadly, demurely, 

But trustful, — its tones, tinu'd 

To yearning heart-thoughts, love-sublimed. 



20 ZILLORA. 

1. 

There flew a little bird to me, 

It nestled in my virgin breast ; 
I could not tell it to be free, 

'Twas in its gentle thrall so blest — 
'Twas in its gentle thrall so blest, 

So joyous with supernal glee, 
That it would seek no other nest. 

In grove, or vale, or summer lea. 

2. 
It came unseen, 'twas all my own ; 

It sang so heavenly day by day, 
That ev'ry thought took up its tone. 

And mused no more the roundelay — 
And mused no more the roundelay 

Of wilds and waters, bloom-o'ergrown ; 
Borne by a mystic power away 

To dreams of light and joy unknown. 

3. 
Methinks my little minstrel flew, 

A cherub, from the highest sky ; 
So imlamenting and so true, 

If 'twere to die I too would die — 
If 'twere to die I too would die. 

And soar the heavens beyond the blue: 
My heart should then have lost the tie. 

That binds me, husband, unto you ! 



ZILI.OKA. 

Amoug the arches strong, 

Zillora's tender song 

Faint echoed, and then died. 

Hilarity replied, 

Upswelling from the strand, 

Where blithesome forms had met 

To rove the moonlit land, 

Or foot the minuet 

To gypsy-liite and flageolet. 

List to the merry din 

Of strollers coming in ; 

List to the banquet-sound. 

As coteries surround. 

And Hospitality 

Its bounteousness outpours. 

Behold the livery — 

The gilding on the doors — 

The shadows on the walls and floors ! 

Glasses clinked ; 'twas in truth 
A scene of Mirth and Youth. 
Meats and fruits the sideboards 
Filled, and jellied hoards 
Enticed the luscious taste 
Of swain and sweet-mouthed maid. 
Nor was there aught of haste: 
Long, long the feast delayed. 
And wine and wit in wassail played. 



22 ZILLOEA. 

"Adieu" was said, until 
" Adieu '• said all, and still 
The zephyrs breathed " adieu," 
And ujD their currents flew, 
As gallant vessels plied 
Toward their havens near; 
Bearing with white wings wide 
Concordant spirits dear — 
True elements of social cheer. 

Vivanco's castle stark, 

High in the deep'ning dark, 

Reared rayless as the stone 

Whereon its base was thrown. 

No sylphic dance, no feast, 

No music to invite : 

The moon had quit the East, 

The moon had quit the Night, 

And Peace grew solemn — weary quite. 



ZILLORA. 23 



CANTO SECOND. 



Beautiffl Morn ! the hills 
Resumed thy luster ; rills, 
Like myriad-blended eyes, 
Drew radiance from thy skies ; 
And manse and forest flowers, 
Of many hues and forms, 
Looked coyish from their bowers, 
To bright blue heaven that warms. 
Full innocent of hidden storms. 

The Sea, the Land, and Man, — 
Proud works that show the plan 
Of High Omnipotence — 
Evinced their thankful sense 
For rays that earthward coursed : 
Now meager as faint beams. 
Through dungeon-crannies forced ; 
Then mantling hills and streams, 
In matin-robes of merry gleams. 

Oh, why should Grief survive 

The Night, or if alive 

When Joy o'er Nature comes, 

Why lurks it in fair homes, 

A torment-shade ? — till Life 

Implores in spirit- woe : 

" Blest Heaven ! undo this strife — 



24 ZILLORA. 

Sweet Saviour, let thy glow 

Descend and soothe me, sad and low !" 

However change the skies, 
Emotions rest, and rise 
To paroxysms the same — 
As startling smoke and flame 
From capitals outburst : 
They flicker on the hearth, 
Till roused by hand accurst ; 
Then blaze along the earth, 
And Lamentation make of Mirth. 

The peasant joined his toil. 

The potentate of spoil 

And Pleasure's mock'ries shared, 

As brave Vivanco dared 

The fretful, surging sea. 

Zillora's close caress, 

And prayer, ere parted he 

The shore, raised Happiness 

And Hope, nor made fond Love the less. 

And oh ! the picture given, 
Of waters, ships, and Heaven ; 
Of mountains, distant, dull, 
Yet misty-beautiful ; 
Of high, historic lands. 



ZILLOEA. 26 

Honored by crumbling shrines, 

And laved by streams, whose sands — 

Revealing tide-declines — 

Besprinkled seemed with diamond signs ! 

Mayhap on some green height 

A maiden stood ; her light 

Garb flowing, and her hand 

O'er her heart, as she scanned 

Vivanco's vessels speed 

The tossing tide along : 

Her thoughts such thoughts that plead 

When true Love feareth wrong — 

Entranced in this plain passion-song : 

1. 

God guide those noble ships. 

Departing o'er the sea ; 
And keep from taint the manly lips, 

That told their love to me. 

2. 

Oh, youthful mariner, 

When distant beauty lures, 
Be ever faithful unto her. 

Whose love for thee endures. 



My heart would sorrowed die. 
And I, a stricken thing, 



26 ZILLORA. 

Should hurry to Eternity, 
If thine prove varying ! 

4. 
Adieu, O noble ships ! 

May kind gales waft ye on, 
That I again may kiss the lips 

Of him — my gallant one ! 

Dear Power of Love — that binds 
Hearts to hearts, minds to minds, 
In fond attachments all ; 
That cheers, though crimes appall- 
Though earthquakes shake the soil, 
And Mis'ry's wretches groan 
'Midst Luxury and Toil ; 
That builds its rosy throne 
On Nature's altitude alone ! 

Dear Power of Love ! to thee 
Succumbs Philosophy ; 
And men and angels are 
Thy lamps, as sun and star 
Are servant-orbs of God. 
Within thy happy sway, 
The presences that sod 
And flow'ring wild display 
Exalt the universal clay ! 



ZILLORA. 

On a couch of texture 

And caparison pure, 

And elegant withal, 

Zillora lay ; a shawl 

Her beauty's screen unvain. 

Shy day-beams glittered through 

The casement, and amain 

Her closed eyes lit : swift flew 

The shades, — the false before the true I 

She 'woke, and the visions 

Of her sleep derisions 

Proved of existing life. 

She was Vivanco's wife. 

And mistress of his home — 

No more a lonely sprite, 

The shore and wood to roam, 

And watch intently white 

Sea-froths heave upward to the llglit. 

Thus she called : " Constanza !" 

Who, with kind undelay 

Came : a maid whose calm sense 

Zillora's confidence 

Regaled ; a servitor. 

Yet worthily a friend. 

Sympathy's greetings o'er, 

Zillora to its end 

Her story spoke — all hearts attend : 



29 



28 ZILLORA. 

" Born on an ocean-isle, 

My soul ne'er nurtured guile ; 

A queen I was, and free. 

For man ne'er knelt to me ; 

From time-torn clift's I gazed 

O'er my beauteous domain : 

The God of all I praised ; 

And when Affliction's pain 

Aggrieved, I mourned, but laughed again ! 

" Oh, trance of mortal-morn, 

When purest flowers adorn 

The chalice of the soul ! — 

Methinks I see the roll 

Of ocean, grand and high ; 

My father's cot, the rills 

That murmur constantly ; 

The mountains and the hills — 

My charms erst, whose charm instills ! 

** Blessing my maiden bloom. 

Love sang through Nature's room 

The tend'rest melody 

That e'er enraptured me. 

I little knew of man. 

Save kindness paternal ; 

And never wished to scan 

Brighter lands, more vernal. 

Nor learnt that Life had phase infernal. 



ZILLOBA. 29 



" One cloud-deserted day, 
The deep impassive lay ; 
And out upon its breast 
A ship appeared, at rest. 
Anon, a boat the strand 
Approached ; a form unknown, 
In raiment of command, 
Stept on a wave-lashed stone, 
And stood adventurous, alone. 

" Elate, from bower of green, 
I viewed the kindling scene, 
And him who on the shore 
Distinctive manhood wore ; 
And then exultant sped 
To greet the household few; 
And feeling-fluttered, said : 
* Such sight I never knew — 
A ship's anear, a stranger too !* 

" A power unfelt before 

My being claimed ; 'twas more 

Than hospitality ; 

'Twas tenderer than be 

Passing courtesies, or 

Fleet-changing emotion ; 

'Twas fostered in the core 

Of my heart's devotion — • 

An islet fountain 'midst the ocean ! 



30 ZILLORA. 

"We met, — the stranger-cliief 
And I — and Love's belief, 
And mutual troth was ours. 
In summer-vale of flowers 
We vowed the happy pledge 
To each the other bless : 
Upon a lakelet's edge 
We sat, and Life's distress 
Was lost in Love's forgetfulness. 

•' No haunts by Vanity 

Adorned can rival ye : 

O elfin bowers of Love ! 

Expectancy did move 

Me, when Yivanco told 

Of other regions rare — 

Far simnier and less cold 

Than that lone island, where 

My innocence ne'er coped with care. 

"My heart was not my own 

Thenceforth a time ; 'twas flown 

To dear Vivanco's breast, 

And soft by his caressed, 

And given me anon 

Metamorphosed, as 'twere, 

By apt magician done ! 

Oh, Romance, debonair 

And glowing, what a warmth was there ! 



ZlLLORxV. 31 

" Away, away we came, 

Within a twofold flame 

Of Ecstasy and Hope. 

Ah ! then did I elope 

From kindred ever fond — 

Fonder as went the years — 

To this abode, beyond 

Their terror and their tears, 

Their dreamy doubts and loving fears." 

She finished ; and her mien, 
Saddened by Fancy's scene, 
Wore Melancholy's token. 
Beautiful, though broken, 
Phoebus' flood was streaming 
Through Zillora's boudoir ; 
And she, as from dreaming 
Waked, up-gazed, and before 
Her came a gentle visitor — 

A rustic child, a girl. 

With golden hair a-curl. 

And tiny feet, and eyes. 

That were for rhapsodies 

Fit themes. To Zillora 

She as a morning bliss 

Was wont to come ; and gay, 

Yet sweetly unamiss. 

She brous^ht bloom-beauties and a kiss ! 



32 ZILLORA. 

She brought full daintily, 

Though not in filigree, 

The fairest sisters of 

The gardened vale and grove ; 

Intertwined with mosses 

From the brook-shore, and shells, 

Shaped like Christian crosses, 

For chaste minds — wherein dwells 

Affection for w^hat Vice repels. 

From basket of shore-reeds 

Those treasures peeped — from weeds' 

Embraces newly culled — 

To smile, and then be dulled ! 

And Zillora placed them, 

Dripping dews, in a vase. 

Glossed with many a gem 

And emblem of the race 

From which Vivanco sprang, to grace. 

The harmony of birds. 

Attuned to cherubs' words. 

Quavering down the air, 

Spread gladness ev'rywhere ; 

And to Zillora gave 

Fresh impetus of soul — 

As winds the lolling wave 

Bestir, till surges roll, 

And flashing sprays enwreathe the whole I 



ZILLORA. 33 

Birds and flowers holy things 

Oft memorize ; the wings 

Of Thought irradiant shine, 

Upbearing themes divine, 

Blest by their communion. 

Oh, see ! a vision now 

Reveals a reunion — 

Where rests the homely plow. 

Where warblers chant and blossoms blow. 

Humanity ! in these 
Creations, formed to please 
The passion-fretted soul. 
There is, though dirges toll 
In slow, sad succession, 
A happiness innate — 
Nature's warm expression — 
That bids bright Virtue wait 
Erect, and Vice crouch to its fate. 

Hark ! — from the willow-dell 
Chimes out the chapel bell. 
Clear, solemn music, to 
The many and the few. 
How such sounds admonish 
Mad revelers in guilt ! — 
But they none astonish, 
In broad Christian lands, built 

With altars, 'fore which fals'ties wilt. 

2* 



34 ZILJ.OllA. 

Down an arched aisle of trees 

And trellises, where bees 

And orioles hummed and sung, 

And floral drap'ries hung, 

Zillora humbly sped — 

Like an angel, earth-bound ; 

With her, faithful Hamed, 

Her boy-companion, crowned 

With favors, as with flowers the ground. 

Her page he was, and mild. 
Whom, when a tearful child, 
Vivanco plucked from doom 
Of ocean, and its gloom. 
Wooing sublimity. 
Nobleness he gained of 
Manner and symmetry : 
His thoughts for utt'rance strove 
In melodies that sound above. 

A bard forsooth ! his lays 

Zillora's saddened days 

Diverted, and his sweet 

Rhyme-numbers were discreet, 

And flowed from Holiness — 

True inspiration's fount. 

Nature was his mistress — - 

Inspirer paramount ! — 

Whose charms he tired not to recount. 



ZILLORA. 35 

On smiles, by woman given, 

Is reared the poet's heaven ; 

And though his passions rage 

Infuriate, and wage 

Their lustful war: o'er all, 

E'en in the direst hour. 

Beams a song-coronal, 

Of intellectual dower, 

That aye bespeaks the godlike power. 

Th' empyrean o'er him. 

The glories before him. 

Around him, melting afar — 

Where the linked mountains bar 

The eye from the vast beyond, 

And hem the Beautiful 

In an azure-tint bond 

Of dreams : from these to cull 

Delight, he'd earth's base scenes annul I 

Hastened to devotion 

Zillora; commotion 

Was in her breast, and calm 

She would be ; in the balm 

Of worship sought she meek 

Consolation. — But, lo ! 

Why quits her youthful cheek 

Excitement's fervid glow ? 

Why shrinks she, as from 'venomed foe ? 



30 ZILLORA. 

A form deformed, and clad 
In monkish garb, that had 
Wrapt worthier anchorite, 
Aroused her full affright. 
Though outwardly a monk, 
A monk he was not ; and 
His soul, in passion sunk, 
Was monstrous ; for it planned 
Deeds such as vilify a land. 

When Innocence and Guilt 
Are met, 'tis tilt and tilt. 
If equal armed they are. 
Perchance Guilt's scimitar 
O'er Innocence's foil 
Prevails awhile: oh, then, 
Arise and dare turmoil. 
Knight Honor — proud in men — 
And maim and baffle Guilt again I 

With gentleness, he strove 
To lure the ear of Love ; 
And spoke thus gallantly : 
" Sweet lady, I'd not thee 
Detain ; presumptuous 'twere 
To wish the audience 
Of humankind so fair ; 
Yet, ere thou goest hence. 
Hear prophecy of consequence !" 



ZILLOKA. 37 



Oh, prophecy as vile 

As he whose soul of guile 

Launched forth such grim decree ! 

'Twas told infernally. 

Aghast Zillora stood, 

As o'er Afiection's urn ; 

For to her dearest blood 

These deathly words did burn: 

" Vivanco never will return I" 



38 ZILLOEA. 



CANTO THIRD. 

Noon, queen-hour of the light, 
Put on her crown, and bright 
Became the Eastern world. 
Clouds lachrymose had whirled 
Athwart the zenith, like 
Mixed plumes, melting amain 
From rays that gild and strike. 
Noon — splendid be her reign — 
Gloried the vales and hills of Spain. 

And where tow'rd Italy 
Spain looks across the sea. 
Her gardens, groves, and vines 
Resplendent sj^read : nor shines 
More lustrous Nature's prime. 
Of flower, and tree, and sky. 
In lands of lesser crime — 
Than shone afar and nigh 
Castilia's fields and canopy. 



ZILLORA. 39 

Crows caw from pine and oak, 
The oxen bear the yoke, 
Elysium is unfound 
Throughout terrestrial round ; 
But there is minted gold, 
Earth's pageants to emboss : 
So yellow, false, and cold — 
Too oft the spirit's loss — 
It gleams all human ways across. 

Where hath Vivanco sped — 

By Hope's swift phantoms led ? 

Where hath his fleet explored — 

Intent on hidden hoard? 

Love lit the chieftain's track : 

Apart from all the rest, 

Adieu he waved them back, 

The sun upon his crest — 

His ship's course veered to meet the West. 

On, on, o'er Atlant's realm ! — 

Stanch the prow, true the helm, 

Down the billows diving. 

Up the billows striving. 

Went the brave " Endeavor ;" 

And while vespers chanted 

Praise of Life Forever, 

'Mong far hills, saint-haunted. 

Quick through twilight airs she panted ! 



40 ZILLORA. 

Hail, hesperian Stars ! 

Venus is regnant, Mars 

In Orient burns ; and dies 

The light along the skies — 

The light sublimely beaming — 

That lived from morn till eve. 

Celestial atoms gleaming 

During Phoebus' reprieve, 

Ye twinkle hope to all that grieve ! 

The outcast lifts her face 

From sin awhile, to trace 

In your sodality 

Iler immortality. 

Alas ! that she should find 

In but one hour of night 

Themes fittest for the mind ! 

Alas ! the mortal blight 

That withers souls in Heaven's sight ! 

Upon a hill-side lone, 

Whose less'ning shades were thrown 

Like black robes on the lawn, 

An old man sat at dawn — 

A relic of the Day 

That grappled Change, and died 

Before the new away ! — 

A stafi* was at his side. 

And down the wold his fleecy pride. 



ZILr.ORA. 41 

Calm as the scene, his eye — 

Glancing anon on high, 

And then earthward sinking — 

Wandered ; as though drinking 

Soul-draughts from the fountains 

Of ethereal Hope, 

Fortitude from mountains. 

Patience from plain and slope ; 

And through the vales his mind would grope 

In thoughts of many themes, 

That deepened into dreams 

And phantasms of the tomb : 

Till, 'midst the lily-bloom 

And rose emblazonry. 

That bowered plain and wood, 

Where streamlets poured to sea. 

Roused Recollection stood — 

A sorrowed angel, there to brood ! 

A shout upon the coast ; 
A trumpet sound that's lost 
In echoes 'mong the hills ; 
A ship, whose broad sail fills 
With inward breezes soft, 
To her moorings speeding : 
Casting the spray aloft — 
Waves aplay impeding — 
Oh, 'twas dignity exceeding ! 



ZILLORA. 

All these the watcher heard 

And saw, nor uttered word ; 

But grasped his staff, and rose 

Benignant in his woes. 

Adown the copse-screened glen, 

And o'er the clovered green. 

He journeyed : then, oh, then, 

His visage, pale of sheen. 

Revealed delight — long, long unseen. 

Oh, mightily rejoice — 

United heart and voice 

Of city, hamlet, home — 

When tidings gladsome come 

Of famous wanderer ! 

Those of the wayward child 

Inspire a holier 

Joy ; that beams like the mild 

Young day, through nightly storm-clouds wild ! 

And such Vivanco told 

Of sweet Zillora ; bold 

He was forsooth before 

Her kindred — on the floor 

Where danced her girlhood-feet. 

Brave and proud, yet tender. 

He walked the village-street, 

Ziilora's defender — 

Till e'en gossips would commend her ! 



ZILLORA. 43 

And the maidens they laughed, 

While the peasant swains quaffed 

Their draughts of jovial wine. 

The sea's ecstatic bi'ine, 

In phosphorescent waves. 

Vied with the landscape's smile. 

There oped anear no graves 

That morn, and the dread wile 

Of Death seemed banished from the isle. 

What whim of yearning age 

Impelled the hill-side sage — 

Zillora's antique sire ? — 

His spirit flamed with fire 

Of resurrected dreams. 

That verified old Love 

Undying. Ah ! there beams 

Unchanged, below, above. 

But N'ature's truth her truth to prove. 

He prayed beside a mound, 

Hedged and violet-crowned : 

A wreath of rosemary 

Was held in his chary 

Embrace — Zillora's gift. 

His eyes were tear-bedimmed. 

As under the blue lift 

He knelt, and his locks rimmed 

The sod, by bounteous beauty limned. 



44 ZILLORA. 



A tear, a smile, a kiss 



Brief change from grief to bliss, 
From bliss to grief; and yet 
'Tis hopeless to forget 
Grief in joy, joy in grief. 
There died not king or slave, 
There lives not serf or chief. 
That felt not, feels not grave 
And glad emotions raise, deprave ! 

It was the rest of one — 

Than whom this world has none 

More pure in loving, true 

In trials, blisses too ! — 

Like whom there's no other 

On earth, in Heaven, so dear— 

A kind, pious mother. 

And that spot revered sear 

And green had grown many a year, 

Zillora's mother there 

Slept beneath that mound, fair 

With cultured grass and flowers. 

How oft the duty's ours. 

Oh, fellow-men, in deep. 

Yet conscious reverie. 

To wander and to weep, 

'Midst hills and by the sea. 

O'er ashes of mortality ! 



ZILLORA. 45 

Speak ! eyes that flash and burn — 

Speak ! eyes that melt and mourn : 

What are ye, if not stars 

Diverse — suggesting wars, 

And stimulating Peace ? 

Forever as the years 

Successively increase. 

Will human eyes glance fears, 

Hopes, hates, and melt in love and tears ! 

Vivanco's mission o'er. 

He left the island shore. 

And sailed away — away 

Eastward, bosoming a 

Primrose cross, pansy-dyed ; 

And when the darkness palled. 

He looked over the wide 

Ocean, firmament-walled. 

And listened as a night-voice called : 

" Love's triumph is thine own : 

Arise ! face Virtue's throne ; 

Renounce thy lust of gold ; 

In Charity behold 

Thy labors, broadly blest. 

Zillora will be nigh : 

The cross upon her breast ; 

Her smiles will glorify 

Thy worth throughout Futurity !" 



46 ZILLORA. 

In search of treasure-trove, 

What i^erils, rudely wove, 

Beset the buccaneer. — 

Warily doth he steer 

Tow'rd land : when out at sea, 

How boldly wings his ship, 

From hull to topmast free ! 

Ah ! outlaw, thou shalt sip 

Of av'rice, though it burn thy lip ! 

Revert thee, mindful strain. 
To noonday o'er old Spain ; 
To noonday 'mong the hills, 
Musical with the trills 
Of woodland choristry : 
Where, ancient as the Moors, 
An abbey, ruined, wry 
And moldering, allures 
Most picturesquely, and assures 

The skeptic : As decay 

Blurs Nature's grandest day 

So in the soul's full glow 

Live memories of woe. 

And shrinking dread of Death. 

Since all that's human errs, 

Preserving Virtue's breath, 

No miracle occurs 

When skeptics turn philosophers 



ZILLOKA. 47 

Among the abbey -tombs, 

Indicative of dooms, 

Sat fierce Dendari, 

Vivanco's deputy. 

In meditation grim 

He pondered ; and the shades 

Of death-marks threatened him ! 

And records, some of maids, 

Moralized from the rent arcades. 

Why paused he there in the 

Golden light, musingly? 

He waited bounty rich. 

Filched from treasure-trove, which, 

Vaulted deep, his day-dream 

Was, and nightly vision. 

He lingered, and the stream 

Of mem'ry whelmed decision — 

Stygian 'twas, not, not elysian ! 

Ay ! treasure-trove was sought 

By slaves half-score, and taught 

Of Mammon, 'mong the dead. 

The flowers beneath their tread 

Were crushed upon the turf ; 

And still Dendari lurked 

Apart, waiting the surf 

Of Fortune : though it irked 

His temper, wherein tumults worked. 



48 ZILLOKA. 

They found gilt treasure-trove — 

They found the miser's love, 

The spendthrift's plaything — gold : 

Of quaint, religious mold. 

And dark Dendari smiled ; 

But the heavens frowned, 

And clouds in legions wild 

Shut sunshine from the ground — 

Where Desecration's sight and sound 

Held sacrilegious feast. 

The tempest-signs increased ; 

And as the buccaneers, 

Down borne by pelf and fears, 

Swept from the land their prize, 

Loud thunders noised aloft. 

Sharp lightnings cleft the skies, 

And airs, erst perfumed, soft, 

Waxed vengeful, and their sweetness doffed. 

The elements that blew 
Dendari and his crew. 
Conspired to crush and blast 
Those lives ; and shook each mast 
Of the doomed ship, and hurled 
Abroad, with angry sweep, 
A wreck to warn the world ! 
All, all, a woeful heap. 
Sank to the valleys of the deep ! 



ZILLORA. 49 

1. 

Oh, guardian spirits of the Good — 

Alert in light of holy ray — 
Watch o'er his hours of solitude ; 

And when temptations crowd the way, 
Breathe on his soul, and keep him true 

To country, friends, and native loam — 
His heart to blest endeavors woo. 

And urge the wanderer home. 

2. 
A trusty welcome waits him there : 

Though 'tis alone a wife's embrace 
That wreathes with Love his breast of care, 

How dear becomes the lowliest place ! 
Winds, waves, and sails propitious be — 

While sunshine sparkles on the foam, 
That crests the billows of the sea — 

And bear the wanderer home ! 



On, on, o'er the shining 
Waters, truth-divining, 
Dashed dauntless Vivanco — 
Whilom the proud bravo. 
And eager merchantman. 
These no more ; for his soul 
All attributes would ban, 
That covet worldly dole ; 
And thus unerring seek its goal. 



50 ZILLOKA. 

Uprose the headland heights 
Of home- — aye gladsome sights ! 
And from the harbor clear, 
Stretched meadow, brake, and mere, 
To the peace-throned mountains. 
Within the castle, from 
Shore-land groA^es and fountains. 
On earth, in air, the hum 
Of Joy announced the chief had come. 

Grief shrunk, a demon-thing, 
When Joy, re-wakening, 
Immersed in shadeless beams 
Zillora's life ; whose dreams 
Of bliss had come only 
Faint orlimmerino; throug-h woe— 
Singly, ghostly, lonely.— 
She cried, her form aglow : 
" 'Tis he, 'tis my lord Yivanco !" 

He heard, he saw, he knew 

Her greeting, joyful, true ; 

He looked into her eyes. 

Illumed by ecstasies. 

And viewed Heaven's radiance there ; 

He clasped her to his heart. 

And smoothed her waving hair. 

Though Destiny should thwart 

Resolve, tlicy ne'er agaiu would part 1 



ZILLOPvA. 51 



Designing gentle deeds, 

They searclied the peasants' needs 

Together ; ev'ry morn 

New charities were born, 

And the chapel-bell 

Rang poeans of happy-day ! 

Hamed sublimely sang : 

Zillora, meekly gay, 

Vivanco cherished, loved alway. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



THE HUDSON RIVER. 

I. 
O, River of resplendent life, 

Thee buoyantly I sing ; 
And to thy native glories rife 

Fond recognition bring. 

II. 

'Mong rocks and bowers, past grove and grange 

The Hudson rolls in pride ; 
Majestic is the bloomy range 

That binds its mighty tide. 



GATnEinx(;s op song. 63 

III. 
Beliold its bosom, sail-bedecked ; 

Its borders, woodland-crowned ; — 
How placidly its depths reflect 

The arching sky and ground ! 

rv. 

Walls, chiseled by fair Xature's hand, 

Defy the shocks of Time ; 
They rise above the brilliant strand. 

As barricades sublime. 

Y. 

The Palisades^ unbending tower ; 

The Highlands,^ gvaj or green. 
Complacent stand, as things of power — 

The nestling vales between. 

VI. 

The vision drinks the landscaped view. 

With ecstasy enthralled ; 
The mountain-tops melt 'mid the blue. 

By wide horizon walled. 

VII. 

No dark and tott'ring ruins grace 

Each promontory's brow ; 
Dear Beauty beams in Nature's lace, 
•rivaled in its glow! 



54 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

vm. 

Rich domes surmount the monarch hills, 

The cottage lies below ; 
From far-off fountains many rills 

Down to the river flow. 

IX. 

Upon its wild, romantic banks, 

Art swiftly hews its way ; 
And boldly thins the forest ranks. 

Where songsters greet the day. 

X. 

The produce of the fertile West 
Finds passage to the coast ; 

The ocean billows smoothly rest 
And in its calm are lost. 

XI. 

The woodman's song full joyous swells 
Along the peaceful shore ; 

Neat villages usurp the dells. 
The heights are peopled o'er ! 

XII. 

The cattle stray along the brink. 
That Hudson's waters lave ; 

They stoop in quietude, and drink 
From brooks that swell its wave. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 55 

XIII. 

The red man nevermore shall hold 

This river of his sires ; 
No, no, his birthright now is sold, 

And quenched the council-fires ! 

xrv. 
Brave Science walks the varied land, 

And hopeful Honor strives ; 
Civilization lifts its wand. 

Yet Nature's charm survives ! 

XV. 

Sweet Flora plants her children on 

The slopes that meet the wave ; 
The flow'rets blush, and fade anon 

Into the earth that gave. 

XVI. 

Amid those scenes by Romance lit. 

The ardent brain is fired : 
The painter's touch grows exquisite, 

The poet wakes inspired. 

XVII. 

When Night shades mountains, dales, and meres. 

And flames her lanterns far. 
In bord'ring homes each lamp-light cheers — 

Tlie rival of each star ! 



66 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

XVIII. 

Oh, oft have lovers vowed their lovo 
Beside this cherished stream ; 

And o'er its banks together rove, 
When youth seems as a dream. 

XIX. 

Live, live, ye bursting woodland springs, 
That Hudson's tide supply ; 

Fly, fly, ye crafts, on breeze-swept wings, 
Smile bright above, O sky ! 

XX. 

Thou River, grand and mountain-born, 

That Genius loves to scan. 
Roll on, till angel- trumpets warn, 

A proud delight to man ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 57 



MOONLIGHT ON THE HUDSON 

I. 

There's moonlight on the river-wavo, 

It glitters down the tide ; 
Our hearts are gladsome, young, and brave, 

And merrily Ave glide. 
The shimm'ring beams illume the shore, 
And brightly touch each dripping oar — 
A soul-blent melody we pour 
Over the waters wide. 

II. 

The ripples, tinged with mildest light, 

Enchant us as we row ; 
And maiden eyes, bewitching, bright. 

Seem dearer in their glow. 
Sweet music comes, of heavenly tone. 
Across the Hudson, calm and lone, 
And echoes from the hills are thrown, 
And fainter, fainter grow. 



58 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Black shadows slumber 'mid the vales, 

And rest within the grove ; 
Behind the Highlands play the gales, 

Serenity's above. 
Row gently, brothers ! may yon beam, 
That flashes on the glorious stream. 
Wake in our hearts a conscious gleam 
Of purity and love. 

IV. 

Oh ! joyously we onward float 
O'er Hudson's depths of blue ; 

And kindly urge our little boat 
With loving hearts and true. 

High in the heavens dear Luna shines, 

More lustrous far than gem-strewn mines ; 

At morn she all her light resigns — 
Ah, then, adieu, adieu ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 59 



NATIVE HILLS. 

I. 

Native Hills, how I love ye, 

High over the river ; 
With your green crowns above ye, 

As brilliant as ever. 
'Mong your woodlands and waters 

Sweet beauties recline ; 
And the smiles of your daughters 

Seem always divine. 

II. 
On your brows of fresh glory 

I gaze long admiring ; 
For ye tell me the story 

My heart was desiring : 
A mute story of sweetness, 

Of love and true joy, 
And of bright years of fleetness, 

When I was a boy. 



60 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Cold Boreas may sear ye, 

Yet summer will gladden ; 
Ob, 'tis bliss to be near ye, 

Though all the world sadden ! 
For an innocence blesses 

Your flower-scented wild, 
In the zephyr-caresses 

Of breezes unguiled ! 

IV. 

Native Hills, how I love ye, 

So noble and blooming ; 
With your green crowns above ye, 

Wide grandeur assuming. 
Full of love is my greeting : 

From my heart lifts the pall — 
As of yore, it is beating, 

Proud Hills, for ye all ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 61 



THE WOODLAND BRIDGE. 

I. 
Apakt from the village, in the woodland, 

Spanning a wide ravine, 
Above the brook's volume, rurally planned, 

An olden bridge is seen. 
There oftentimes I rest. 
When sunshine fills the West, 

To list to songs attuned 'mid haunts of green. 

II. 
From brink to brink, it arclies o'er the glen, 

Of rustic form, more dear ; 
The squirrel skips in timid awe of men, 

And quick, instinctive fear 
There lovers sweetly meet, 
To earnest love repeat. 

While Peace reigns mistress of the woody sphere. 



62 GATHERINGS OF SOXG. 

III. 

The forest trees in multitudes arise, 

And at their feet smile flowers ; 
Paths wind among, unseen by summer-skies, 

From the bridge to the bowers ; 
The brook-tide murmurs songs. 
Each bedded rock prolongs 

The cadence soft, thrilling the peaceful hours. 

rv. 

Fair rears the woodland round that lone bridge rude 

Blest spot where joys agree ! 
There's loveliness amid the solitude 

Of grassy vale and tree ; 
There shines a tender sheen 
Above that deep ravine, 

That lifts the soul to sentiment and glee. 



GA.THERINGS OF SONG. 



63 



BUDS AND BLOSSOMS. 

L 

Btjds and blossoms, buds and blossoms- 
First bright off'rings of the year — 

Bathed in raindrops, all your bosoms 
Burst within the sunlight clear. 

Joyously my heart-voice greets ye— 
Buds and blossoms, as I gaze 

On your unenduring beauty, 
Harbingers of sunny days ! 

11. 
Nature's sweet and ripening treasure 

Shyly to the world appears ; 
Soon 'twill be of fullest measure, 

Laughingly, oft dripping tears ! 
Beauteous tints in blushing glory 

Grace the woodland and the mea<l : 
Golden, green, and colors gory 

Kindest admiration plead. 



64 GATTIEIilNGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Strong-limbed trees, and busli, and bramble, 

Spring-tide's gorgeous mantles wear ; — 
How I love betimes to ramble 

'Mid the blooming wild-wood fair I 
Brooklets sparkle still more brightly 

As tliey dash o'er moss and stone ; 
Human hearts beat cheerful, lightly, 

Earth seems glad, harsh winds have flown. 

IV. 

Fleet-winged birds, on branches singing, 

Tune their voices sweetest now ; 
For the buds green leaves are bringing, 

And the blossoms fruitful grow. 
See the valleys and the meadows. 

Dipped in fragrance all their own. 
Granting sunlight-circled shadows 

To this season-chansjinsj zone ! 



V. 

Friendly showers, the heavens resigning, 

Buds and blossoms freshly lave — 
Softly pure, of blest designing. 

Smiling o'er their annual grave. 
Smiling round the gaudy palace. 

Smiling round the cottage fair — 
On the cliffs, and up the trellis. 

Buds and blossoms everywhei'o ! 



GATHEllINGS OF SONG. 65 

VI. 

Just above the grass-tops growing, 

Peep the tender infant flowers ; 
Ev'ry little leaflet glowing 

In its peaceful pristine bowers. 
Within the heart, Hope, full cheery, 

Radiates the spirit-gloom : 
Earthly scenes are never dreary 

In the rapture of their bloom ! 



66 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



A WAIF. 

Broad-cultured grounds, artistic, grand, 

Where lingers rich, exotic grace, 
Inspire not, as divinely planned ; 

No, no, 'tis in the forest-space — 
Where, unconfined, dear Nature smiles- 

That scenes appear, by Mem'ry kept : 
Firm as the beauteous tropic isles. 

By billows of the ocean swept ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG- 67 



SUMMER. 

I. 
Fair Summer speeds over the earth 

In the chariot of Time, 
And fosters the 'wakening worth 
Of all its verdure sublime. 
The meadows grow greener, 
The heavens serener. 
And purer the changing clime. 

II. 
Its paths, with the Beautiful strewn, 

Spread far from highland to sea, 
And taste the soft brightness of June, 
And thrill with its melody ; 
Alluring the lover 
And gentle maid over. 
To where sips the gauze-winged bee ! 



68 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

The flow'rets their eyelids unclose, 

And gaze askance and around ; 
The lily peeps shyly ; the rose 

Seems proud, though blushing profound ; 
And the fleet warblers fly 
On the breath of July, 
And brooks sing low to the ground. 

IV. 

The heart is delighted, nor feels. 

As glowing August revives. 
The impulse of sorrow, till steals 
Fair Summer away, and gyves 
Of the Frost-king surround. 
Ah! then earth seems a mound — 
A chill comes over our lives ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 69 



VIOLETS AND PANSIES, 

I. 
Far above the glowing river, 

Where dear Nature plies her loom, 
Smiling upward to the Giver, 

Violets and pansies bloom ; 
Soon beneath the snow to shiver, 

Beauteous ere their chilly doom ! 

n. 
Bright are violets and pansies, 

Of cerulean-crimson hues ; 
Luring fond and tender fancies, 

As ascending perfume wooes ! 
Clustered as the dawn advances. 



Gleamhioj in the crvstal dews. 



70 GATUEKINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Beautiful, yet modest-seeming, 

Beam they 'mong their sister flowers, 

While the lake anear is gleaming. 
Mirroring its banks and bowers. 

And the morninsc lisrht is streamino- 
Down upon the lawns and towers. 

IV. 

Plucked by hands unseared by toiling, 
Sunny tresses they adorn ; 

And on breasts of Love, love-foiling. 
Lie they, from Earth's bosom torn ; 

Fading, dying, crisping, spoiling. 
Cast away to Death forlorn ! 

V. 

Violets and pansies ever, 

Drinking deep of Phcebus grand, 

Swell the sweetness of that river. 
And its bloom-enveloped strand, 

Smiling upward to the Giver, 
Nurtured by His heavenly hand I 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 71 



MORNING- GLORIES. 

I. 
Decking, mth their sister-blooms, 

Garden, grove, and lawn ; 
Flushing Nature's verdant rooms, 

Lit by early dawn. 
Morning-glories strew the land. 
Clinging upward, zej^hyr-fanned. 

II. 
Pretty, in profusion wild, 

Twining 'midst the trees. 
Peeping out where rocks compiled 

Sentinel the leas, 
Morning-glories taste the clime. 
Searing with tlie Summer-time. 



V2 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Children wreathe them into croAvns, 

Crimson, purple, blue ; 
Maidens cull them for their gowns. 

Thoughtless what they do ; 
For ere the nightly damps descend. 
Decay despoils, and breezes rend ! 

IV. 

Pleasures rule the dance and feast. 

Pleasures flash round wine ; 
But oh ! methinks they are increased 

Where morning-glories shine. 
There Peace and Health their sweets unfold, 
Around the hills, adown the wold ! 



GATHEBINGS OF SONG. 73 



SONG OF THE MOWERS. 

I. 

Let us go unto tlie mowing, 
For the eastern sky is glowing 

With the morn ; 
Dull drowsiness shall not be ours, 
While fields and dales are bright with flowers, 

Grass and corn ; 
No, no, grasp firm the scythe and sickle — 
Though toil-drops down our fi:)reheads trickle, 
To labor we were born. 

II. 

Our garments are uncouth and coarse. 
But then our breasts know not remorse 

For wrong deeds. 
We swing our many steels full keen. 
And sever all the blades of green 

On the meads ; 

And grasping firm the scythe and sickle, 

We feel, as toil-drops brightly trickle, 

We labor for our needs. 
4 



14 GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

The Summer is our time of joy, 
When Nature's scenes young hearts decoy- 
Wide and grand. 
Oh, let us cheer our work with song, 
And while the echoes sound along- 
Down the land, 
Let's firmly grasp the scythe and sickle, 
And feel, as toil-drops warmly trickle, 
New vigor in each hand. 

IV. 

Our modest homes are ever blent 
With gentleness and true content, 

'Mid life's blast. 
List, list unto the cheerful call 
Of voices by the garden wall — 

To repast. 
Let fall the flashing scythe and sickle. 
Dash oiF the toil-drops as they trickle — 
We've mown the field at last ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 75 



AUTUM]^. 

I. 
'Tis Autumn, and the fresh green leaves 

Grow yellow, pale and sear ; 
The grain is housed — packed up in sheaves- 

For wint'ry days are near. 

II. 

The blooming Summer-time has fled, 

And growing plants mature ; 
Jack Frost will soon uprear his head 

To torture rich and poor ! 

111. 
The fruits in tempting clusters cling. 

And lusciously they fall, 
As rough'ning winds the brown leaves fling 

On meadow, stream, and mall. 



76 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

IV. 

The flowers in dying beauty hang- 
Where erst they flourished sweet ; 

The birds, that on the tree-tops sang, 
Fly South on j^inious fleet. 

V. 

The farmer gathers in his store 

That Industry supplies, 
And fondly looks the furrows o'er 

Where grew his summer-prize. 

VI. 

The varied hues of Auturan-time, 
How fair, yet sad are they — 

Embellishing the woi'ld sublime. 
And warning of decay ! 

YII. 

O, kindly season of the year, 

Though sadness robes you round. 

Abundance gives the warmth and clieer 
That in your heai't is found ! 



GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 77 



OCTOBER. 

I. 
October, hail! I see tliy sign, 

So heraldic of Xature's woe, 
In things that darkle, things that shine, 

Anear, afar, above, below. 

II. 
The forest seems a mighty flame, 

Whose leafy sparks gleam down the air, 
And huddle in their dying shame, 

'Midst hills and vales, and here and there. 

III. 
And o'er the heart an influence steals, 

ISTot gay, nor yet of bitter grief. 
But such methinks the oak-tree feels. 

When parting with its first dead leaf! 



78 GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 

IV. 

Sonorous, on the matin-breeze, 

Come sounds from o'er the river- waves ; 

Now loud, then less'ning by degrees, 
Like lives, that end in distant graves. 

V. 

O, thoughtful time ! October, thee 
I deem the mentor of the year ; 

For thou its grandest change dotli see. 
And smil'st its smile, and shed'st its tear. 

VI. 

And mem'rics that reposed in Spring, 

And slejDt tlirougliout the Summer's glow. 

Awake, and ope their wings, and fling 
Their pliant shadows 'cross my brow. 

VII. 

Then come, October, when thou wilt, 
Magnificent beneath the sun ; 

The heavens are with thy glory gilt. 

Dies on Earth's breast her beauteous one ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 79 



THE FALL OF THE LEAVES. 

I. 
How mournful and meek is the fall of the leaves, 
As prayerful Autumn with fortitude grieves 
For Summer, her sister, immured in the grave f 
The winds shriek over her, 
The dun leaves cover her. 
And bleak is the landscape, and dark is tlie wave. 

II. 

There's a monody in the fall of the leaves. 
As downward they flit to their cousins the sheaves, 
Broadcast and withering on hill-side and plain ; 
As heaped in the valley. 
Whose trees creak dismally, 
Bereft of their beauty, lamenting disdain. 

III. 
No harmonies joy o'er the fall of the leaves, 
And the sorry-eyed sprite of the woodland weaves 
A chaplet of decay for the Autumn-king. 
'Tis Love now gladdens all. 
For Nature saddens all. 
And I turn from the scene to dream of the Spring. 



80 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



WINTER'S VICTIM. 

I. 

Ah, crony mine, alone we sit. 

While round us liowls the Winter, 

And thoughts of Beauty dying flit, 
As sparks from yonder splinter. 

Earth, air, and sky are bleak and chill- 
Blest Virgin guide the comer, 

Who ventures o'er this Highland hill — 
The monument of Summer. 

II. 

Relight your meerschaum, crony mine, 

Let's dream in clouds together ; 
Refill your glass with friendly wine. 

We'll toast the summer-weather. 
For oh, wild frosts shall ne'er congeal, 

Nor make our hearts the glummer. 
Nor blight the kindness that we feel 

For earth-delighting Summer. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 81 

III. 

Hark ! heard you not a cry full faint, 

Yet loud to ears of pity ? 
Ope, ope the door, no human plaint 

Shall pass us to the city. 
What's here ? a girl and aged man — 

He oruards but to benumb her — 
'Tis Winter, shivering and wan. 

And 'neath his robes the Summer. 

lY. 

Come in, come in, thou hoary form, 

Come in, thou frozen beauty ; 
Here glows the firelight glad and warm. 

With hearts of tender duty. 
Take thou the farthest ingle-rest, 

Weird sage, where thou may'st slumber ; 
The girl I'll cherish to my breast. 

In burning love of Summer ! 

V. 

And crony mine — the embers fade, 

A frost is in my bosom — 
Alas ! she's dead, my lovely maid : 

White-haired! but why accuse him? 
He sleeps as with a soul of grac;.', 

With mien than erst not grummer — 
Haste, haste thee, comrade, seek a place, 

Where we may l)ury Summer. 



82 GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 

VI. 

Lost Bloom ! the North- wind moans her dirge, 

Be ours to aye commend her ; 
But grieve not, comrade, she'll emerge 

From out the grave in splendor. 
She'll rise again, and charm the world ; 

Then, wand'ring never from her. 
We'll laugh to see old Winter hurled 

From all the paths of Summer ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 83 



II. 



SWEET IS THE SOl^G. 

I. 

Sweet is the song tliat Love inspires ; 

There are no sweeter strains on earth 
Than those that flow from clear desires, 

And charm attachments into birth. 
They pleasure Grief and soften Mirth, 

And, trilling from unnumbered lyres, 
Resound in hearts beside the hearth. 

Rebound to souls of fiercer fires ! 

II. 

Sweet is the song that Friendship fills 

With kindliness that ne'er reproves — 
Amid a wilderness of ills 

Spread blooming gardens, pleasant groves. 
In smiles and words that hallow loves. 

Souls cling to souls, as vales to hills, 
And night or noonday ne'er removes 

The union of harmonious wills. 



84 aA.THEKIN«JS OF SONG. 



BEAUTY. 

A visiox of light rose before me — 

'Twas Beauty's, forever divine ; 
Enchanting illusions came o'er me, 

To Beauty more brightly define. 
The mold and the grace of each feature 

Woke ev'ry fond feeling of mine : 
" Oh, dwells there on earth such a creature — 

Bends she at Humanity's shrine ?" 
Dear Beauty told not of her mission. 

But smiles lit her visage benign ; 
She vanished, as flitted the vision. 

And left me in darkness to pine. 
Come again, sweet vision of bliss from above. 

Flee not so hastily, charmer of Love ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 85 



FRIENDSHIP. 

I. 
When Friendship glitters in each eye, 

And warms the pressure of each hand, 
Misfortune's weights more lightly lie, 

And crumbling, yield like desert sand. 
They fall from off the tortured heart — 

Ill-judged, despised, condemned o'ermuch- 
And, as dark memories, depart 

At Friendship's true and gen'rous touch. 

II. 
Oh ! 'tis an hour of misery — 

Yet many souls that hour withstand — 
When Friendship's gleam grows shadowy, 

And dead its pulse in ev'ry hand. 
At such a time, be calm, sad heart, 

Be prayerful, be very meek ; 
Thy faith will shield from mortal dart, 

And glad the soul, and flush the clw^k I 



86 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



MEETING AND PARTING. 

I. 
'TwAS a mild fair night in the bud of the year, 
And the lamps of the village were burning near. 

II. 
The stream Avas silvered, for unveiled was the moon, 
And the birds of the woodland had hushed their tune. 

III. 

Hills, meadows, and mountains were dim, though the 

Night 
Was ne'er before blest with more sj^arkles of light. 

IV. 

There stept o'er the pathway a maidenly form. 
Her spirit aglow, and love-bursting and warm. 

V. 

'Twas Lelia, and half-affrighted she peered 

Through the dew-blent air, as if something she feared. 

YI. 

To a vine-trellised arbor noiseless she sped. 
She n eared it — 'twas still as a place of the dead. 



GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 87 

VII. 

The dead was afar, but the living was there — 
Young Ormond, her lover, with dark wavy hair. 

VIII. 

He awaited Lelia, thoughtful and lone, 

As the moon's soft beams on his countenance shone. 



IX. 

Bright blossoms illumined the boughs that o'erhung, 
But thoufrhtless he was of the beauties amono^. 



Thoughts came with a burning he could not control. 
Of Lelia, the light and joy of his soul. 

XI. 

A footfall, advancing, came over the lawn, 
As timid and quick as the tread of a fawn. 

XII. 

Two hearts throbbed tenderly within the still shade — 
In Love they were one, and in Honor unfrayed. 

XIII. 

They met but to part in that trim try sting- place. 
And glad was their greeting, and dear their embrace. 



88 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

XIV. 

Two roses were linked in the turf at their feet — 
A symbol of hearts when their love is complete. 

XV. 

"Though goest thon, Ormond, where Peace is defiled, 
ril await thee, as now, as ])m'e and unguiled." 

XVI. 

Thus Leiia sighed, and her Ormond as true. 

Plucked from the green sod the linked roses that grew. 

XVII. 

" I give thee this flow'ret, and this I retain, 
'Twill 'mind thee, Lelia, of me on the main." 

XVIII. 

Love's tear-drops commingled their kiss of adieu : 
They parted, and vanished from mutual view. 

XIX. 

The moon sank down into the vastness of Night, 
And the lamps of the village revealed no light. 

XX. 

Lelia is sad, and full often she weeps, 

But the love of Oi-mond she faithfully keeps ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 89 



LA se:^oiiita. 



A EOMANCE. 
I. 



Journeying near that cherished river, 
The rushing, gushing Guadalquivir, 

Where Summer meets reviving Spring, 

I heard La Seiiorita sing ; 
And oh ! whenever griefs are mine, 
That Spanish mem'ry warms like wine. 

And gives to Thought a sunny wing ! 



II. 



Among the orange-boughs I listened, 
While the stream below purely glistened, 

And laved the glowing esplanade ; 

Then I peered through the perfumed shade, 
And bright-eyed Senorita saw : 
Her beauty forced a tender awe, 

Li simple sanctity displayed. 



90 GATHERIXGS OF SONG. 

III. 

As beamed each scene of ancient story, 
She sang of Moorish love and glory, 
But knew not that, o'erheard by me, 
She swelled another's ecstasy. 
Sweet from an amaranthine bower 
Her utt'rance charmed me, as a flower, 
Whose exhalations lure the bee ! 

IV. 

My heart awoke to soft emotion — 
'Twas Passion mingled with Devotion — 
An impulse of a fond unrest. 
That, momentary, made me blest. 
Ah ! he that such grace could not woo, 
No tingling of Love ever knew, 

Nor felt a quick throb in his breast ! 

V. 

Alas ! a scrutinizing seiior. 

Of flashing glance, and proud demeanor, 

La Seiiorita led away. 

I watched them down the garden stray, 
And o'er my being fell a gloom — 
'Twill haunt my spirit to the tomb, 

Until my body joins the clay I 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 91 



OK THE LAKE. 

i» 

Swift o'er the lake the light boat moves, 

With Youth and Beauty freighted, 
Past shrubby headlands, floral coves, 

So picturesquely mated — 
Past rustic houses on the shore, 

And lovers roving, resting, 
And children gath'ring more and more, 

The slopes and arches cresting. 

II. 

The sky is of a cloudless blue — 

The waters ripple brightly ; 
The boatman dips his paddles true — 

They sparkling rise, and lightly ; 
And now in sunshine, now in shade, 

White gliding hither, thither, 
Sweet Youth and Beauty, heaA^ en-made, 

A heaven make toofether ! 



92 GATHEKINJiS OF SONG. 



Anon they step upon the land, 

A land of summer-glory ; 
No blight before, on either hand, 

No scenes decayed or hoary ; 
But all is green, and grand, and bright, 

And Youth and Beaaty roaming 
Down od'rous dale, up healthful height, 

Rejoice until the gloaming. 



GATHEiilNGS OF SONG. 93 



AFFECTION FOR NATURE. 

I. 
The fervor of Love may be maddened, 
The heart of the lover be saddened, 

By the scorn of her he adored ; 
Earth's romid may seem bhick to him, 
Till her love comes back to him, 

And clings to the soul it ignored ; 
But there's an affection that maddens not, 
So calm in the heart that it saddens not, 
It quickens at home, and 'tis cherished abroad, 
For landscapes and waters where Nature is lord. 

11. 

The dew-drops that moisten the morning, 
The ocean, whose thunderlike warning- 
Comes crashing from billowy brine — 
Creations that charmingly 
'Midst woodlands and mountains be. 

Are glorious lovers of mine ! 
Their converse exalts, and thoughts upheaving 
Pluck inspiration from sweets inweaving, 
And their mingled presences shadow and shine 
With beauty and majesty almost divine. 



94 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



A SKETCH. 

I. 

She moved 'mong friends dear and beloved, 

Within her vine-encircled home ; 
Her smile a double welcome proved 

To all that to her home had come. 
True joyousness controlled each heart, 

Kind greetings 'work a gentler thrill ; 
And Friendship, pure and free from art. 

To ev'ry bosom brought good- will. 



II. 
Alas ! dark Sorrow wraps the scene — 

That matron, friend and darling one 

Lies cold in death — the morrow's sun 
Shines on her grave, o'ertopped with green. 
And those that but a day agone 

Felt impulse of a lively mirth. 
Habiliments of mourning don, 

And weep for her, released from earth ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 95 



THE PURE A'NB THE LOVELY. 

I. 

Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely, 

Angelical One ; 
Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely, 
That my heart, sorrow-rifted, 
May be joyously lifted 

To the smile of the Saviour Son — 
That Beauty, in robes of the Holy, 
May beam o'er my spirit, full lowly, 

Till its moments of earth are done. 

II. 

Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely, 

Angelical One ; 
Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely, 
When the rays of Aurora 
Cheer the children of Flora, 

And shadows all the hill-tops shun — 
When the fiery orb at even 
Retires adown the western heaven, 

Beneath clouds celestially spun. 



96 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely, 

Angelical One ; 
Oh, grant me the Pure and the Lovely ; 
For the blooms of the highland. 
And the maid of the island, 

Pd claim, as the day the sun ! 
Oh, grant to my heart living Gladness, 
Till outcast and fugitive Sadness 

Shall shrink like a specter undone ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. ^'J 



MY BEAUTIFUL AKGEL. 

I. 

She was my beautiful angel, 

The soul of my hopes and my dreams ; 
A bright and beautiful angel, 

She high in Eternity beams. 
She gained the Blest Land before me, 

Away from all passion and guile ; 
Methinks she yet watches o'er me. 

Like a star o'er a lonely isle. 

II. 
She flew away in the morning. 

And my heart with sorrow was gloomed ; 
Her mem'ry shines a sweet warning 

O'er many earth-blisses entombed, 
O'er hopes all hopeless forever. 

O'er dreams that were lost when she died ; 
Oh ! my life's a cheerless river, 

And brambles envelop its side ! 



^8 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

The flowers that smile in the valleys 

Are ever the saddest when near ; 
They 'mind me of gentle Alice, 

Who died in the chill of the year ; 
For as the last rose to ashes 

Dropt dull on the withering sod, 
She closed her light-sealing lashes, 

And her soul soared upward to God ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. ***9 



MARY. 

I. 
Sister of my budding life, 

Sister of ray manhood's bloom, 
Sister when dear joys are rife. 

Sister when o'erblackens Gloom ! 
Still thou art my sister sweet. 

Still my heart's enduring light, 
Still the list'ner for my feet, 

In the chill, tempestuous night — 

Mary ! 

' II. 
Thou, most noble spirit-friend, 

Tliou, companion of the Past, 
Thou, whose words of patience lend 

Heart-hope, when Despair would blast- 
Thou'rt my star of cheerfulness. 

As in thought I nightly stroll ; 
And methinks, when joys caress, 

I'm a fragment of thy soul — 
Mary ! 



100 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



III. 



WAR. 

I. 

Pulsing in yiolent, feverish throbs, 

Wildly, recklessly dashing. 
Life flows red, and its groans and its sobs 

Follow the saber's clashing. 
The tufts of the plain, 

The rocks of the height, 
Bear up the brave slain, 

As battle's fierce light 

'Midst pallid smoke is flashing. 

II. 
Horsemen and infantry rush to the shock, 

Storming, defending, flying. 
And shouts of " Victory " cruelly mock 

The pangs of soldiers dying. 
The thunders of strife. 

On morning's sweet breath, 
Now quicken warm Life, 

Now horrify Death, 

While hearts afar are sig^hinsj. 



GATIIEEINGS OF SONG. 101 

HI. 

As bivouac-fires, through lengthening years 

Ilhime grand woodlands niglitly, 
I pray that joy may follow the tears, 

That trickle sad, yet brightly — 
That flowers may upbreathe 

O'er warrior-graves ; 
And war-ships, beneath 

Oceanic waves, 

Decay unseen, unsightly ! 



]02 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 

October 28, 1863. 

T. 

Defiantly on Lookout Mount the Jlebel soldiers 
sjDread, 

And in the valley confident tlie Fed'ral legions tread ; 

Brave Hooker guides their fearless march, true How- 
ard's in the van. 

And Geary guards the valley-road, as only hero can. 

As steadfast as the ocean-rock that curbs the tempest- 
sea. 

His troops resist the battle-wave, and keep the mastery. 

In giant grandeur stand the heights from which rebuffs 
are hurled, 

And Longstreet flaunts an upstart flag that desecrates 
the world ! 

The morning beam is tinging faint the merry mountain 
rills. 

Resounding volleys crash aloft, and echo 'mong the 
hills, 

Proud Lookout looms discordant, dim, — a flaming pile 
of war, — 

Its woods the hideous haunts of Death, its sod a couch 
of gore. 



GATHERINGS OF SOXG. 103 

II. 

From glen and cliff and shelt'ry trench tlie hostile 

thunders peal ; 
Tliey rouse the heart, they mad the brain to potency 

of zeal ; 
They quicken ev'ry sense of rage that slumbers in the 

soul, 
As Carnage flames its ghastly torch, and lurid flames 

uproll ! 
How fiercely meet those kindred forms, hoAV dreadful, 

yet sublime 
The scene whereon red Murder stalks to expiate a crime ! 
Ah ! thus it is, man bleeds to purge the follies of his 

kind, 
And writhing, dies in butchered plight, his groan upon 

the wind. 
Hark ! from the Mountain's crimsoned side reverberates 

the strife. 
And Smith's Brigade ascends the steep to ofler life for 

life. 
They bear the Union's banner high — it glitters as a 

charm — 
There's patriotism in each heart, and valor in each arm. 

III. 
Quick gushes from the summit dark the flash of fatal 

fires. 
Yet upward charge those gallant men, whom Liberty 

inspires ! 



104 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

Like angered fiends they rush, they fight, tliey rally. 

and they die — 
The nightly mist has risen soft, the sunlight's in the 

sky: 
The sunlight gilds the shadowed Mount, and shows the 

warry gleam 
Of bayonets all deadly set, as in some horrid dream. 
On, on they dash to where the foe, intrenched and 

daring waits — 
The very air is maddened now, and fraught with wing- 
ing hates ; 
A struggle of contesting might is clashing in the clouds, 
And Havoc grants its guerdon grim, but to the dead 

no shrouds. 
See ! some assault, and some pursue, and some retire 

dismayed : 
It is the Rebel band that flies; the victors — Smith's 

Brigade. 

IV. 

Oh ! mighty spasm of human hearts ; oh ! wreck of 

frenzied power; 
The world is told through Glory's trump to mark the 

deed and hour ; 
To cherish and exalt the brave, whose heroism outshines 
In grand enduring memories, and unerasive lines ! 
Columbia's life is stronger grown: her faithless sons 

recoil ; 
Their blood bedews the valley-heath, and clots the 

mountain-soil ; 



GATHERINGS OP SONG. 105 

A quiet briefly Avalks the wild, and noises deej) and 

aivad 
Are hushed as are the lips that close the voices of tlie 

dead. 
Pale smokes arise to upper air, to lave anon in tears 
The grassy tufts, the glowing shades, that beautify the 

years ; 
But oh ! the blaze of war revives, and still the deep- 

'nino' o^roans 
Of warrior-souls are murmuring above uncoffined bones. 
5* 



106 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



GLIMPSES. 

I. 

The night was shadowing meadow and cottage, 

And homeward sauntered the herds, 
As a chikl stood by a man in liis dotage — 

Listening to his words. 

II. 

" The daylight's gone," quoth the withering mortal ; 

" 'Twill come again," said the child ; 
And soft and dreamily over the portal 

Fell moonbeams pure and mild. 



III. 

Afar in the West loud storm-notes were rumbling, 
Clouds gathered 'twixt earth and sky ; 

The firmament — oh ! 'twas awing, 'twas humbling 
To heart, and brain, and eye ! 



GATHEKINGS OF SONG. 107 

IV. 

The bivouac-fagots were crackling to ashes — 

Eve was a truce to the foes ; 
'Thwart Heaven's dark arch flew the lightning's keen 
flashes, 

Burninof the venoms that rose. 



V. 

Morn beamed ; but alas ! what murderous ruin ! — 

Blood imbrued, humankind reeled ; 
Lost was the hour to rejoice, love or woo in — 

Torn was Amity's shield ! 

******** 

VI. 

O'er bone-strewn paths, where misoreant earthly glory 
Plucked vantage from pale slaughtered men. 

Six horsemen hastened, in each breast a story — 
Dreadful to tell again. 

VII. 

Why rode they thus so mournful and so lonely, 

A weary, wan, and wasted band ? 
Two hundred souls they numbered erst, but only 

Six lived to tread the land ! 

VIII. 

What sought they 'mong the butchered heaps and 
bloody — 
Blackening as the Past grew large ? 



108 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

Their chief — ay, he of hero-form and ruddy, 
Who led the daybreak charge. 

IX. 

They found him where the peril was the thickest, 
Where Carnage piled its highest mound ; 

Down sprang they quick, and those that were the 
quickest 
Bore him to safer ground. 

X. 

"My comrades," gasped he, "I am bleeding, dying — 

The East is as a rosy bride. 
Yet smiles on horrors — see ! the foe is flying — 

I'll to my sires," and died. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 109 



TO THE ANGEL, PEACE. 

I. 

Bkight angel, Peace ! sublimely thou may'st soar 
Through summer-airs, that erst the fiend of War 
5hook with hideous sounds that grieve no more. 
Thy white wings beam in happy purity — 
They ope — beneath them spreads security. 
Confirmed amid the beauties of mountain-land and 
shore. 

II. 
Bright angel, Peace ! thy smiles fell Discord's shades 
Dispel, throughout my country's towns and glades : 
Brave kinsmen sheathe antagonistic blades. 

As none thy true clemency accuses, 

'Tis but the obdurate heart refuses 
A fallen brother's friendship, and deems that it degrades. 



110 GATHEKIJSGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Bright angel, Peace ! flee not away ; thy feet 

In glory walk, thy hands m mercy meet, 

To comfort all, and bless the rip'ning wheat. 
Oh ! ne'er let gentle, holy Charity 
With Freedom's sons be as a rarity — 

Shine o'er ns, and we'll love thee with love entrancing 
sweei. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. Ill 



EXULTATION^. 

July 4, 1865. 

I. 
Lift high our flag, by blood redeemed, 

With jubilant acclaim ; 
No grander epoch ever beamed, 

Than this, for Glory's name. 
No brighter hour for Liberty 

Glowed since the world began — 
For millions saved from anarchy 

Exalt the cause of Man ! 

II. 

Let choruses from children rise, 

Eesponsive to the song 
That angels chant, when destinies 

The joys of men prolong. 
Let horrors blacken but the Past, 

The Present is of cheer ; 
Sweet Amity is ours — at last 

The smile supplants the tear. 



112 GATHERINGS OP SONG. 

III. 

The world is glad, the realms serene 

Embody Nature's glee ; 
Our country's triumph pleases e'en 

The tyrants o'er the sea ! 
Green Erin lifts her fettered form, 

And Poland breathes a sigh 
For Liberty, though battle's storm 

Has swept her plains and sky. 

IV. 

Lift high our flag, by blood redeemed, 

Dear countrymen and brave ; 
Full eighty years its folds have streamed, 

Ten thousand may they wave ! 
And fjiirest hands will fashion flowers 

In garlands, sweet and gay, 
To beautify this flag of ours. 

So glorious to-day ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 113 



COUNSEL. 

I. 

My country is not part^ but all 

Of its extent from sea to sea ; 
I will not, and I cannot call 

The North alone beloved by me. 
I love the South, the East, the West, 

For they're my native land as well ! 
Each part full equal to the rest, 

And all as one in Freedom's swell. 



II. 

Is he a friend of humankind, 

Who agitates intestine feud ? 
Believe it not : the evil mind 

Is ever restless, not the good. 
And countrymen, by war we've won 

The title to a common land ; 
Then who will dare take down the %\\\\ 

And flame again Rebellion's brand ? 



114 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

111. 

Recrimination curses yields, 

And 'tis a noble nation's pride 
To build the cities, smooth the fields. 

That devastation wasted wide ; 
And hide the deep and bloody trace 

Of strife, with smiling homes and bowers ; 
In war we were a warrior-race, 

In peace be Love and Kindness ours ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 115 

PRAISE. 

I. 
Mine is a broad and bounteous land, 

Untrod by courtiers, kings, or slaves ; 
A freeman on its soil I stand, 

And oceans round it toss their waves 
In mystery, 
In majesty, 
And chant within resounding caves 

The grandest tones of Freedom's song. 
Its treasures are its heroes' graves, 

Its glory is its living throng ; 
Its flag — how loftily it braves 
The tyrants as it streams along ! 

II. 
Mine is a green and varied land, 

Whose mountains, valleys, hills and plains 
In peopled unity expand ; 

Whose rivers course like mighty veins, 
Full rapidly. 
Full lucidly. 
The offsprings of unnumbered rains. 
The inner paths of Power's career. 
Midst all, with all, no chilling chains 

Bid Liberty to droop and fear ; 
Grim Monarchy such toys retains — 
They are not here — they are not here ! 



] ] 6 GATHERr^GS OF SONG. 



THE SHAMROCK AND LAUREL 

I. 
There's a lofty love abounding 

In the emblem of a land ; 
There's a fellowship, confounding 

The evil mind and hand, 
In the token of a nation. 

In the flow'ret of a race ; 
And a multiform oblation 

Is lifted by the grace 

And patriotism of millions — 
To the hearthstones, homes and hamlets, 

Where gush the native fountains ; 
To the valleys, groves and streamlets, 

The cities and the mountains — 

With a pride as high as Ilion's ! 

II. 
As the Lily was the glory 

Of the olden flag of France, 
As the Rose illumes the story 

Of Albion's advance — 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 11? 

In the Sliararock is communion 
Of all Irish faith and love, 

And the Laurel crowns the union 
Of grandeurs interwove 
Round the temple of the Chainless. 

To the Laurel fill libations, 

The cup with Shamrocks wreathing ; 

And before the monarch-nations 
Kaise the symbol — breathing- 
Equal Rights — to lordlings gainless ! 

III. 

Interweave the lowly Shamrock, 

Freedom's Laurel to endow ; 
Ay ! unite with Ireland's Shamrock 

Columbia's Laurel-bough — 
For there's hope and help unchary 

Columbia's skies beneath. 
And from ev'ry cliff and prairie 

To Erin's hills of heath, 

Salutations clear and cheerful 
Resound across the ocean, 

And Celts, in might increasing, 
With patriot emotion. 

Vow in their souls unceasing : 
" We'll avenge thee, Mother tearful !" 



118 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



THE RIGHTS OF MAN. 

I. 
When Misrule's night 

Wrapt lord and slave, 
And gloomed the light 

That Glory gave, 
Ahove the West 

Burst forth a sign — 
To lords unblest, 

To slaves divine — 
And thus the glorious symbol ran : 

"To ALL BELONG THE RiGHTS OF MaN 1" 
II. 

The tyrant frowned, 

The courtier threw 
His gauntlet, bound 

With flxvors new ; 
And as it fell, 

Thus challenged he 
The world, whose spell 

Was Liberty : 
" The power of Kings shall crush and ban 
Who dare uphold the Rights of Man !" 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 119 

III. 

Ten thousand swords, 

In patriot hands, 
Gleamed round the words 

That woke all lands 
With fervent hope, 

And brave desire, 
Misrule to cope 

With, and acquire 
In halls of State, and Battle's van, 
The vindicated Rights of Man. 

IV. 

And since that hour. 

When Tyranny- 
Reeled 'neath the power 

Of Liberty, 
The exiled found 

A refuge bright — 
A vantage-ground ^ 

To Wrong requite, 
And strike at tyrants, as they can, 
With swords that flash the Rights of Man. 



120 GATHEEINGS OF SONG. 



THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER 

Died July ], 1867. 

I. 
And is the patriot, ^leagher, dead ? 

Who ill liis youtlifiil g'lory rose, 
A champion of his race, and led 

His country 'gainst her foes. 
Who prized the sword 'bove " moral force,' 

When Tyranny to dotage ran, 
And waked in tyrants a remorse 

For slavery in man. 

II. 
And is the orator, Meagher, dead ? 

Whose silver voice rang to the skies. 
And men and angels 'raptured said : 

" This man's divinely wise !" 
His wit was of a golden glee, 

His pathos flowed, a sumiiu'r-stream. 
And, oh ! his eloquence m'us free 

When Ireland was the theme I 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 121 

III. 

And is the soldier, Meagher, dead ? 

And lost his burning, martial word ? 
Weep, weep, O comrades, mourning shed 

For " Meagher of the Sword !" 
Ye saw him grasp proud Freedom's shield, 

Ye saw him flash along the war ; 
He would not blanch, he would not yield 

From out the flag a star ! 

IV. 

Weep, weep, O Erin, for thy son ! 

Weep, weep, Columbia, he was thine : 
His deeds were ever nobly done. 

His fame shall live and shine. 
The patriot of a brave revolt. 

The orator of heavenly breath, 
The soldier of the thunderbolt. 

Are dead in Meagher's death ! 



122 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



THE MEMORY OF THE BRAVE, 

I. 
The Genins of each age records 

Heroic, bright, and noble deeds, 
'Midst clash of musketry and swords, 

'Midst tramp of foemen and of steeds. 
O'er Battle's horrid scene of woes. 

Where flashes high the crimsoned glaive, 
The heart a coronal bestows 

To the Memory of the Brave. 

II. 

Thermopylae and Marathon 

Shine grand as sunlight on the seas ; 
And vivify those heroes gone — 

Leonidas, Miltiades. 
The glories of the Grecian State — 

Rome's prowess on the land and wave — 
Aw^ake the chords of praise elate 

To the Memory of the Brave. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 123 

III. 

Europa's heather-vales attest 

The valor of Caucasian blood : 
Uiiawed by tyrant-power nnblest, 

The Knights of Freedom stoutly stood. 
Ay, many fought in fierce crusade, 

And many piled the hallowed grave — 
Let not polluted tongues upbraid 

The darling Mem'ry of the Brave. 

IV. 

Upon the blooming Western Land 

The flash of warry lightnings came ; 
Victory smiled on Freedom's band. 

And Tyranny crouched low in shame. 
Where rest the valiant — spirit-free — 

Oblivion's tide shall never lave ; 
For heart-enshrined will ever be 

The Mem'ry of the faithful Brave. 

v. 
Let nations honor, long and well, 

The noble hearts that pine and bleed 
On battle-ground, in martyr-cell. 

And plant 'midst horrors Freedom's seed. 
Oh, green in Recollection's maze 

Be ev'ry patriot hero's grave : 
Posterity its voice will raise 

And bless the Mem'ry of the Brave ! 



124 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



IV. 



NATURE AJSTD ART. 

I. 

I. 
I TREAD dear Nature's glowing solitude, 

And around me bright inspiration beams, 
Engendering fancies. Benignly rude 

It is: green brakes, and dales, and moss-bound 
streams. 
Unused to mortal trespass, blossom-strewed, 
A welcome give to light and happy dreams. 

II. 
Gray mountains, robust, craggy, and sublime, 

Cleave lightsome clouds, and whiten far above ; 
As lofty as in Earth's created prime, 

Unmoved by blasts that devastate the grove. 



GATIIEKINGS OF SONG. 125 

III. 

The sky in softest tint and grace appears, 
High o'er the glories of the pristine realm ; 

Celestial brightness ev'ry space endears, 

As llow'rets smile 'neath shades of oak and elm. 

IV. 

Uprise the tinctured and complacent hills. 
To guard the beauties of the vales below ; 

And adown their gorges the sweet-toned rills 
In crystalline purity dash and flow. 

V. 

The creatures of the woods, to freedom born, 
Around their native wild unfrightened roam ; 

Man dwells apart, and the hunter's horn 
Thrills not the caverns of their forest-home. 

VI. 

Down to the haunts of flowers my vision strays. 
And verdant depths ecstatic thoughts allure ; 

My heart throbs light, and gives to God fond praise 
For all the bloom, so sunny-hued and pure. 

VII. 

Clifl^, plain and river, slope and grassy glade, 
Combine their charms, and verify my dreams 

Of peace and bliss, as foams the swift cascade 

O'er rocks, through meadow-land, with constant 
gleam. 



126 GATHERINGS OF SOXG. 

VIII. 

Yes ! here in grand old Nature's wide-spread wild, 
I listen to the strains that heavenward rise, 

And muse, and wish myself as undcfiled 

As this lone scene, of worldly things unwise! 

II. 

I. 
I view thy chiseled piles, O gracious Art, 

Lavish with arches, towers, and shining spires; 
And gaze on palace, mansion-honse and mart. 

Reared for man's solace, and his great desires. 

II. 
Proud homes appear, of timber and of stone, 

And ornaments adorn, of scarce design : 
The peasant's cottage, modest and alone, 

A contrast gives, as o'er it creeps the vine. 

III. 
Genius here its mighty labor spreads — 

Glorious the outline, and the inner space — 
Painting a spirit-influence ever sheds. 

And Sculpture lends to all a noble grace. 

IV. 

Oh ! would that Happiness ungrieved could dwell 
Where beauteous Art holds temporary reign — 

Contention's clouds forever to dispel. 

And Charity, Hope, Love and Truth retain. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 127 

V. 

Trim work of man — flattering to his pride ! 

I'd fain desert your cold, unconscious walls, 
And in Nature's haunts, luxuriant and wide, 

Dream 'mono- forest-shades, hills, and waterfalls ! 



128 GATHERINGS OF SONr, 



SOCIETY'S SEA. 

T. 

There arose on the moody breeze of Night 

A voice from Society's Sea ; 
And I reviewed anon a luring light, 
That lit up a wave of blemishless white, 

But I said, " It is not for mo." 

II. 

" It is not for me," I said, as I gazed 

Wide over the varying flood ; 
"For my brain's ablaze, and my heart's amazed, 
To behold sweet Virtue buifeted, dazed. 

And Evil thus conquering Good." 

III. 
A maidenly form on the stainless w^ave 

Beamed o'er it in Purity's sheen ; 
'Twas mystic, divine, 'twas sight for the brave. 
And she seemed to surmount Sin and the grave, 

Like Mary, the Cherubim-Queen. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 129 



She saw the ripples of Folly afar, 

Beyond them a deepening waste, 
Unlit by a ray, ungemmed by a star, 
And — dupes that children of Innocence are — 
Sought in her soul some germ disgraced. 



V. 

Then a smiling fiend at her side thus spoke, 

Persuasive as a foe of Heaven — 
" What fcar'st thou, angel ? yon gloom is the cloak 
That veils a beautiful realm, where the yoke 

Of exquisite passion is riven !" 



vi. 
An ebony wave upheaved at their feet — 

She stept from the pure to tlie vile : 
Oh ! swift are the lurements of gloziug Deceit, 
And my heart grew sad that a soul so sweet 

Society thus should defile. 



VII. 

Not lost ! not lost ! for a youth o'er the wave, 

As Virtue's knight-errant, pursued — 
Pursued to the bounds of Chastity's grave. 
And the demon's front full merciless clave, 

Witli the sword defensive of Good ! 

6* 



130 GATHEIJI.VG.S OF SON(i. 

Till. 

And a halo from the morniug of grace 

Shone round the savior and the saved ; 
And the shadows died from her form and faje- 
For she stood again in her virginal place, 
'Mong the Beautiful, undepravcd I 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 131 



A VISION". 

I. 

In a nook of a bouse where join many eaves, 

And cozy security sanctifies rest, 
A dreamer bright thoughts into melody weaves. 

And sings out his soul from the warmth of his breast. 

II. 

Apart from the turbulent world of the Real, 
Pure dreams of the Beautiful soothingly rise, 

And an angel-form opes the shrine of Ideal, 
With the glory of Heaven enriching her eyes. 

III. 
A vision uplooms amidst petulant clouds, 

That seemingly battle, its glare to o'ershade : 
Eternity's semblance appears, and the crowds 

Of the silent spirit-world glitter and fade. 



132 GATHERINGS OP SONG. 

IV. 

The souls that have prayed, and the souls that have 
fouglit, 

Outshine m then- liappmess, shnnk in their woe ; 
O'er-thronging the realms of the universe Thought — 

The saints on the hills, and the demons below. 

V. 

Aloft in the zenith the light of the Good, 

Enwreathed with the splendors of seraphic wings, 

Delights, as the sun in its summer-tide mood. 
And blesses the toilers as Avell as the kino;s ! 



VI. 

Ay ! th' angels, that stand and repose on the hills, 
All equal and blissful exult in its beams ; 

And the spirits of doom, 'midst shadows and ills, 
UlDgaze with a longing, that sorrowful seems. 

VII. 

It departs, that vision of torment and weal. 
Like a vapor devoured by the radiant East, 

When Night and its phantoms to nothingness steal, 
And the glow of the world is by Heaven increased. 



LVATHERINGS OF SONG. 133 



TO TRAGEDY. 



A SONNET. 



Hail ! sublime offspring of the mimic Muse, 

As from her cloud-wrapt throne thy powers infuse 

Earth's Genius with brain-ennobling fires ; 

Whereby depicted are men's passions, ires, 

And what their souls contain, that all may see 

Profound existence in epitome ! 

Thy sphere is where the dim and narrow stage 

Unfolds a massive world. Thy Love and Rage 

Are there revealed, as in Time's wider scene 

They burn, transpire ; racking the jeweled queen 

And her subject-slave with passionate power 

Alike, though placed distinct, as speeds the hour — 

The circumstantial hour of human life. 

In which, O Tragedy, Love rules with Rage and Strif( 



134 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



THE OUTCAST'S GRAVE. 

I. 
Apart from the rest, in the dark clod alone, 
With noxious weeds and rank herbage o'ergrown, 

Is seen the outcast's grave. 
There's not e'en a slab or purchaseless stone, 
Save the pebbly ones, o'er the dust imknown, 

That human tears ne'er lave. 

II. 

Oh, why reposes this remnant of dust 
Companionless, far from the lauded just, 

In such a dreary grave ? 
" She Virtue scorned," say those mortals whose trust 
Seems holy, " her life was darkened with lust, 

And sank where demons rave !" 

III. 
Charity ! how true is the baleful tale 
Of this worthless earth in its darksome jail. 

That Pity's tear doth crave ? 
It erst had a spirit, like those who rail. 
And heart of love, and cheeks of bloom, now ]tale — 

Dead in the outcast's grave ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 135 

IV. 

Why place it lonely here, why is't not found 
Among the rest, with white mausoleums crowned, 

Within a cherished grave? 
Though Sin, forsooth, has piled the outcast's mound, 
Can native earth pollute its native ground. 

Has Sin no other slave ? 

V. 

There's interest here : a vision gaunt appears, 
As meditation drifts adown the years. 

On Time's uncertain wave. 
Humanity ! she shrinks not at your jeers. 
She's dead — the clouds but mourn, and drop their tears 

Upon the outcast's grave ! 



136 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



WEALTH NO MERIT. 

I. 
Though philosophers curb emotions, 

Divines anath'matize Pride, 
Humanity still has its notions, 

As the sea its cliaugiiig tide ; 
And the glitter of Wealth lures about it 

The weakest, the fairest, ay, those 
Who'd banish the cynic who'd flout it, 

And scoff' at its tinseled woes ! 

IT. 

See the genius, with garments tattered. 

Grasping his manuscript-roll, 
In his nook, by the wild winds battered- 

Who comforts his mighty soul ? 
Not the simpering levees that gather 

In false, luxurious ease ; 
Not the lovers of fashion — but rather 

The unrecosjnized of these ! 



GAT11ERING8 OF SONG. 137 

III. 

Humanity ! rise, as you rally 

From Pride's insidious snares ; 
Full Avorthy, as flowers of the valley 

That sweeten the mountain airs ! 
Let fools all follies inherit, 

And Intellect sovereign be ; 
Then none will be great without merit, 

Then Talent and Truth shall be free ! 



138 GATHERINGS OF SOXG. 



CHANGES. 

I. 
How meek the soul becomes, 

When chill misfortune sears : 
Devouring e'en the crumbs 

It loathed in former years. 
How suppliant it seems, 

So haughty in the Past ! 
Are Wealth and Glory dreams, 

That they so briefly last ? 

II. 
The beggar doffs his hood 

To men of nobler mien, 
Though purer be his blood 

Than flows through king or queen. 
The monarch forfeits rule. 

And, high in sovereign-place, 
Above a crimson pool. 

The beggar sways his race I 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 139 

III. 

Then who will dare be proud — 

For what is mortal pride ? 
At noon, a silken shroud, 

At eve, a garb decried ! 
The glee of summer-hours 

Precedes a winter-grief; 
And where bloomed freshest flowers 

Appears a shrivel'd leaf! 



140 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



MORALITY. 

I. 

The righteous mandate of the Good, 
And Virtue's handmaid true — 

Erect and beautiful it stood, 
As humankind the better grew. 



In places where God's might is taught, 
Where truths spread fiir and wide, 

'Tis there it alw^ays should be sought. 
And there it always should abide. 

III. 
At home, around the fireside-hearth. 

In beauty let it reign ; 
And those Avho wish for right on earth 

Should strive its purpose to sustain. 

IV. 

'Mid social circles, where unite 
The young, of manners gay. 

This theme should be the shining light 
To guide grave Duty on its way. 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. l4l 



REMEMBER DEATH. 

I. 

Remember, O Humanity ! 

The end of earthly life ; 
Let not the heart with vanity 

Be filled, nor sin grow rife 
Within the deathless soul. 
God's holy name extol — 

Remember Death ! 

II. 
Ye rulers, and ye modest poor, 
Shackled with worldly cares, 
Keep, keep your many spirits pure, 

By soul-repentant prayers ! 
Oh ! walk the brightened way. 
For Earth is as a day — 

Remember Death ! 



142 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 

III. 

Solemn the hour — Eternity ! 
By sacred words defined ; 

The perils of Death's shadowy sea- 
Absorbing to the mind. 

Grand Christian truths remain : 

May all God's blessings gain — 
Remember Death ! 



GATHERINGS OF SONG. 143 



LINES TO A BRILLIANT STAR, 

I. 
Shine on, sliine on, O Star, 

High in the crown of Nig]) t ; 
May naught thy glory mar. 

Though hidden oft from sight. 

II. 

Thou glitt'rest for mortals 

In this their home below — 
Brightening Heaven's portals, 

So constant to bestow. 

III. 
Clouds many times o'ercast 

Thy cheerful, sparkling face ; 
But when anon they've passed, 

Thou beam'st in all thy grace. 

IV. 

Shine on, shine on, O Star, 

With others of thy kind ; 
And from Night's crown afar. 

Flash pleasures to the mind. 



144 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



AN IMPRESSION. 

I. 
I SAT in the moonlight, and read of the " Raven " — 

The " Raven " of Foe's strange genius born ; 
And its words seemed by weird handicraft graven, 

From the heart of a wretched man torn. 
I thought — and my thoughts were not critical — craven- 

What miseries blast the forlorn ! 

II. 
'Twas night in the poem, 'twas night o'er the city, 

Dreary the one, the other full briglit, 
And there rose in my soul an impulse of pity, 

As the shadows evaded the light ! 
Oh ! why was man made so gifted and witty, 

Yet doomed to Fassion's grim blight ? 



GATIIEIilNGi OF SONG. 146 

III. 

A sympathy, true as the blest love of Nature, 

Burning in grand, poetical souls. 
Wrought brotherhood in my heart for the creature, 

Whose chilly dirge high Memory tolls; 
Whose works will remain a proud nomenclature, 

While merit enlightens the scrolls ! 

IV. 

I went to my rest, and the moonlight was streaming 

As lucid and pale as before ; 
And images of my fancy, sad-seeming. 

Flitted ghost-like over the floor — 

Wild, wild were my dreams, for that night I was 

dreaming 

Of shapes that shrieked " Nevermore !" 
7 



146 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



STANZAS. 

I. 

Enshrined in Fancy's bowers, 
Bloom bright and tender flowers, 
O'er which the sky oft lowers, 

And falls the chilly rain ; 
Of beauty, thought-designed, 
Of perfume, soul-refined, 
Smile lilies of the mind. 

Blush roses of the brain. 

II. 
Ah ! Melancholy, thou 
Com'st o'er my musings now, 
And specters 'thwart the brow 

Of Fancy throng amain ; 
And dimming with the light 
That dazzled Reason's sight. 
Expire in mental night 

The bright bloom of the brain. 



GATUERINGS OF SONG. 147 



THE NEW YEAR. 

I. 

Full many years have come and gone, 

Since Order out of Chaos came ; 
Still roll the years sublimely on, 

Through light and darkness, shade and flame. 

IL 

Hope fondles to her heart the New, 

And Memory enshrines the Old ; 
'Twas youthful, hopeful, glowing too. 

Till griefs o'erflecked its locks of gold. 

III. 
The cottage and the palace beam. 

And wars are 'feebled 'midst the joy 
That laughs the New Year in, and seem 

Too unimpassioned to destroy ! 

IV. 

Methinks in eA^'ry breast there beats 

A universal throb of cheer ; 
And ev'ry voice the prayer repeats : 

" O God, be this a glad New Year !" 



148 GATHERINGS OF SONG. 



AMBITION. 

Ambition 'woke, and o'er his head 

There glittered high a star ; 
" I '11 to yon light," Ambition said, 

" Though blood and deluge bar !" 
He flew to gain the dazzling world 

That shone in air afar ; 
But fitful winds him backward hurled. 

And fought with force of war. 
He rose, all dangers downward trod, 

And boldly reached the star ; 
But, ah ! it seemed a diresome clod, 

As Earth's attainments are ! 
A brighter orb its glory shed, 
" I '11 to it fly !" Ambition said. 



NOTES 



1 Written in 1868. 

" The Palisades comprise a high, precipitous range of rocks, 
commencing opposite Manhattan Island (on which the City of New 
Yorl<: stands), and extending along the western shore of the Hud- 
son Eiver, a distance of twenty miles. 

^ The Highlands are a romantic group of hills, sloping steeply 
among the windings of the Hudson, and rearing their noble forms 
northward of "Tappan Bay." 

* The Battle op Lookout Mountain, otherwise "Wauhatchie." 
took place October 28, 1863, between the Confederate and Federal 
troops, commanded respectively by Gen'ls Longstreet and Hooker. 
The following extract from Major-General Hooker's Eeport, dated 
November 6, 1863, chronicles the splendid charge of " Smith's 
Brigade" (Federal), commanded by Col. Orlan Smith, of the 73d Ohio 
Volunteers, up the mountain : — 

"This skeleton but brave brigade charged up the mountain, 
almost inaccessible by daylight, under a heavy fire, without returning 
it, and drove three times their number from behind the hastily 
throwu-up intrenchments ; capturing prisoners, and scattering the 
enemy in all directions. No troops ever rendered more brilliant 
service." 



